Extra wires on my Bennington Bowrider

[csbaker80]

I have a 2023 Bennington 25 LTSBA and under the helm are a ton of wires. I've identified a lot of them, but there are some that I can't figure out and there is nothing in the owners manual. I have attached some photos in case anyone knows what they might be.

Part of the reason I am asking is because I want to add a solar panel to the front deck (it has a huge front deck as you can see in the picture), and I am wondering if there are already wires being run to the front of the boat that I can use, or if I'll need to fish new wire from the front back to the battery.

 

[Jack M]

Every model has extra wires and connectors, usage of them depends on your options. I am on #4 and it seems everyone of them has more . At least on my Q's they are behind a panel under the helm.

 

[CLDave]

You'll almost certainly need to run the wires yourself - everything in the standard wiring harness has a specific use. The most likely wires going to the bow would be for the side lighting under the rub rail (see my writeup in my sig links - there's photos). You might be able to run wires along the inside of the rub rail from the cockpit to the bow along the starboard side - I was able to do that for my underwater lighting. Quick tip if you're going to run wires yourself - the boot in the floor of the cockpit is removable - you can unscrew it from the floor and pull it up to get your hand inside. I used a wifi pin camera connected to my phone to find the best runs.

Good luck and share photos/results!

 

[csbaker80]

You'll almost certainly need to run the wires yourself - everything in the standard wiring harness has a specific use. The most likely wires going to the bow would be for the side lighting under the rub rail (see my writeup in my sig links - there's photos). You might be able to run wires along the inside of the rub rail from the cockpit to the bow along the starboard side - I was able to do that for my underwater lighting. Quick tip if you're going to run wires yourself - the boot in the floor of the cockpit is removable - you can unscrew it from the floor and pull it up to get your hand inside. I used a wifi pin camera connected to my phone to find the best runs.

Good luck and share photos/results!

Thanks! I'll check out your photos to see what you did, and I'll definitely take plenty of pictures to share my approach once I get going on the project.

 

[Vikingstaff]

Nice Bennington! Unfortunately, I don’t have anything else constructive to add, but had to comment. She’s a beauty!